13 October 2012
Today I went hiking up the Bastille with Katie, and we
brought with us some lovely little treats so we could have a picnic up at the
top. It was really beautiful hiking up the mountain, especially now that autumn
was starting to kick in and the leaves in the trees were starting to change
colors a little bit. It was also a very clear day, so I could see the entire
city of Grenoble as I got higher up the mountain. It was very nice walking up
with Katie too, it gave us some time to spend some quality time together and
appreciate each other’s company. One of the best moments we had on the way up
was passing this little elderly woman who was taking her time walking up the
mountain, walking her tiny little dog that I could have probably held in one
hand. As we gawked and squealed at the adorableness of the little pooch, we
passed the old woman with a nod and a “Bonjour” and continued up the path. A
little further up, Katie and I took a quick break on a bench to rest up,
recharge, and chat a little more. A few minutes later, the elderly woman made
her way toward us again, but we noticed there was no dog anymore. We panicked at
first, scared to death that the dog ran away and she didn’t know about it, but
when she passed us, we saw the puppy’s tiny little head poking out from her
backpack – too cute! We continued up the path, went through some of the
fortress hallways and staircases, and ended up on a terrace right in front of
the Bastille, and it was the perfect spot for our picnic. We sat down at a
bench and unpacked our lunch, and munched on our treats while we gazed out over
the city of Grenoble and at the gorgeous mountains in the distance. The best
feeling on top of this mountain though, no matter when I go or whom I go with,
has to be the mountain breeze. It’s such a cool breeze, and it carries with it
a gentle whistle. I like to imagine all of the places these gusts of wind have
been, how many memories they must carry with them…as long as they don’t take my
memories with them, I’d love to remember this picnic forever! After enjoying
our lovely sandwich-and-chocolate picnic and taking a few pictures for our
up-in-the-mountains photo shoot, we started to hike back down the mountains.
Katie enlightened me with some stories of her time living in Alaska, and she
told me about when she would visit the Iditarod races and when she would see
the Northern Lights, and other amazing stories like that. I suppose Alaska will
be the next place to visit on my list, she made it sound just so wonderful! I
can stop by Canada on my way there, visit Quebec, speak some French; it would only
be just too perfect! But until then, I shall be full heartedly enjoying La
Belle France! Once we got to the bottom of the mountain, we walked a little
ways down Rue St. Laurent and found a place known as “Little Italy”, the part of
Grenoble inhabited by a large number of Italian immigrants. It was so pretty!
We also visited the Musée Dauphinois there, and we saw a few really interesting
exhibits, such as an exhibit that showed the history of the nuns that used to
live in the area, and there was also the chapel on display that had been there
for years, untouched. I really enjoyed this little chapel; it was small,
quaint, and really peaceful. Another exhibit we visited was Un Air d’Italie, an exhibit dedicated to
the history of Italian immigrants, and they also had a section that showed photos
of Italians and Italian families that currently live in Grenoble nowadays with
small plaques that described the family’s history. I thought that was really
interesting. Even in France, a beautiful country rich with French history
wherever you go, you can find little bits and pieces of foreign histories as
well. In this exhibit we also ran into Jimmy (what are the odds!), and with him
we visited some of the gardens around the museum, and then the three of us went
back into town and grabbed a tram to go find a bite to eat. We settled down at
a hamburger restaurant that served novelty hamburgers (no Big Macs here!), and
I fancied myself to a delicious Canadian burger with chicken, cheese, bacon,
tomato, and a mayonnaise and ketchup sauce. It was really good! Overall, I
would have to say this day was a wonderful day!
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